There is growing recognition among Canadians that our past wrongdoings have contemporary legacies, legacies that raise questions about moral accountability, collective responsibility, and the requirements, as well as the value, of reconciliation and reparation. How should we deal with our past? Does it need dealing with? And if so, what reasons are there for doing so? What obligations are there to do so? From the calls to remove statues, rename roads, buildings, and universities, to decolonize and indigenize our public institutions and educational curriculums, to the remarkable backlashes against these efforts—the question of how to deal with our past and what it means to do so, is perhaps one of the most urgent, yet fraught challenges of our time. 

In this program, students will enroll in PHIL2226: Social and Political Philosophy and PHIL2295 Philosophy and Remembrance. Through a combination of lectures, visits to museums and memorials, walking tours through Berlin’s fascinating and complex cityscape shaped by collective and contested efforts to preserve, memorialize, and account for its past, students will reflect on the meaning and normative value of these efforts, and compare them with Canadian efforts to do the same.  

Dates (subject to change)

• May 6-10 (M-F): Pre-departure lectures 4-6 hrs/day) 
• May 17- June 6, 2024 (Berlin, Germany)

Earn six university-transferable course credits!

• PHIL 2226: Social and Political Philosophy (3 credits)
• PHIL 2295: Philosophy and Remembrance (3 credits)

_{Who is Eligible?}  

This program is intended for ANY post-secondary student interested in an innovative academic experience! 

Prerequisites for this program: Any first-year philosophy course or the consent of both instructors. If you do not meet the prerequisite please contact the program instructors. 

Not a current Langara student?  You can still enrol in this exciting program!  Please click on the Apply link below if you are a student at another post-secondary institution or a new student. All applicants must also complete the Field Studies Program application form, also available on the Apply page.

Note: many of our students received generous scholarships and bursaries in previous years! Click on the Financial Aid tab for more information.